The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued the implementing regulations to foster access by small businesses to the capital markets through instruments such as equity crowdfunding. For the first time, it will be possible at federal level to issue securities to small investors through specialised internet portals. The new rules aim to provide small businesses with innovative instruments to raise capital, while also offering adequate protection to investors, as the SEC Chair, Mary Jo White, explained. The new rules will enter into force in the first half of 2016.
Businesses will be able to raise up to one million dollars in a given 12-month period through crowdfunding portals. Investors too will be subject to annual limits on investments made using the crowdfundng approach, based on their annual income or personal wealth. The rules envisage an overall limit of 100,000 dollars on the total annual amount of crowdfunding investment. Read full article, plus economic news from Egypt, in Italian.
